Thanks, whalerman. I try
. So, OP, please excuse the thread diversion here...
Most any barrel length can work for HD from a barricaded position, which is in most cases the best way to deploy a shotgun for home defense (see the NRA's Personal Protection In The Home class, described at
http://www.nrainstructors.org/searchcourse.aspx - it's focused on handguns, but the same tactics work with shotguns).
I do like shorter barrels better for a dedicated HD shotgun though, simply because they are handier in storage and retrieval. It's good IMHO to be able to swap barrels on the same gun and have a shorter smoothbore barrel for HD, and a longer smoothbore barrel for field/sporting use. With most modern makes/models, this arrangement is neither difficult nor overly expensive to set up.
Barrels shorter than 18" require more expense, paperwork and hassle than I'm willing to deal with. We use 870s as a rule here, the old so-called 18" factory barrel from Remington is actually 18 1/8" and that works fine. The newer barrels from Remington are 18 1/2", I see nothing to complain about there either. Remington's Riot Gun bead-sight barrels and many rifle sight-equipped smoothbore slug barrels have always been offered at 20", those work fine too. And Remington and other manufacturers offer Turkey barrels and rifle sight smoothbore slug barrels from 21" to 24" or so, and there's nothing at all to complain about with those either.
After an unexpected move a few years ago, I found myself with no shotgun handy. A trip through local pawn shops turned up a used 870 Express Turkey gun with a 21" vent rib barrel, dual bead sights and an Extra Full turkey choke tube. It was a wreck on the outside, which was responsible for the attractively low price tag, but it was mechanically sound and the bore was bright and shiny. A twist using a quarter for a choke tube wrench broke the extended tube loose in its threads. So I bought the gun.
A standard ImpCyl choke tube out of the used choke tube box was willingly swapped even up for the Turkey tube by the counterman, who knew he could charge more for the Turkey tube than for the ImpCyl tube I wanted. I took the mess home, field stripped it and gave it a good cleaning inside and out, got all the old camo tape off the wooden furniture and got all the gummy glue it left behind off everything. Apparently the former owner was a heavy user of DEET based insect repellent, the areas on the stock and forearm where hands naturally go were so sticky it was hard to let go of the gun once it was picked up.
The gun cleaned up nicely, and is still one of my favorites. It will serve reasonably well in multiple roles as it is, with no barrel changes, even though 870 barrels are widely available, not expensive and interchange easily. The two beads work well as substitute iron sights if needed. It still has the ImpCyl RemChoke tube in it, but a 4-round Sidesaddle has been added, along with a simple rail for a weaponlight.
For versatility's sake I like smoothbore slug barrels with factory rifle sights. That way when the short barrel is removed the sights go too. On a dedicated HD/large game hunting shotgun I like ghost ring sights, but for a multipurpose shotgun I prefer rifle sights on the short smoothbore barrel. Bead sights are great for purely 'inside' guns and work well for lots of shooters outside as well, though I prefer sights on a defensive shotgun, as it's easier for me to get hits with slugs at longer ranges if the gun has sights. My old eyes aren't what they used to be.
Choke tubes and other internal barrel changes aren't as useful as they were a few years ago IMHO, as long as a full range of ammunition choices is available. I never bought a Vang barrel, though I was tempted, but I did have choke tubes installed and forcing cones lengthened in several 18 1/8" barrels. At the time a MOD choke helped a lot to get the kind of sheet-of-paper size patterns I wanted out at 25 yards. Now all I have to do is shoot a load with the FliteControl wad, out of a CYL bore, to get the same result. And it's 100% worry free shooting slugs or anything else out of the same barrel and choke, too.
Makes life easier...
hth,
lpl
Now, back to your regularly scheduled thread...
